And with every step you take, I watch another part of you go. ..
What's driving the global decline in vertebrates?
Well one more night I’d like to lie and hold you…- Stevie Nicks, If You Ever Did Believe.
One of the things I found really helpful in the Living Planet Report is that the authors really spell out the relationship between climate change and the biodiversity crisis. What they explain is that up to now, habitat degradation has been the primary driver of species loss in these populations of vertebrates that have been monitored since 1970. That’s humans encroaching on where they live. So for instance, agriculture- really harmful to amphibians. Hunting has been really harmful to mammals- especially trophy hunting for the wildlife trade. Climate change is really harmful to birds.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Thirsty Science to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.